:iagree: None of the schools which my college kids applied to required embossed transcripts.

No need to panic. If it can't be found on their website, just call the monastery and ask about their dress code. It could be different for each monastery. Fwiw-- When we first visited the one near us, we were told for the females to wear dresses or skirts and to bring a head covering to wear in the church. And no shorts, not even on the males.

:iagree: Our reasoning for being that strict-- We used their high school years as training grounds for college. Just as we set a standard for their high school academics, we also required them to exhibit a certain level of organizational skills because in college, the two go hand in hand. You don't want to wait until 12th grade to begin working on this.

I have 2 college kids living home. They're both scheduled to graduate in May- oldest from Catholic liberal arts college 10 minutes away, youngest from community college 20 minutes away. Youngest will then attend 4-yr univ as a third yr college student, where she'll do a 30 minute commute. Oldest is thinking of grad school next year but we don't yet know where. Having them live home while in college has worked fine for them and for us.

In the Section Reviews, most of the answers to the “Think Critically†questions state “Answers will vary.†The rest of the Section Review has answers to questions for Define, Identify and Recall questions. Chapter Review include: -Using key terms -Reviewing the facts -Thinking critically -Applying social studies skills -Making time and place connections -Becoming an historian For the most part, Chapter Review questions have answers given in the Teacher’s Wraparound Edition.

:seeya:Waving back at you, Val:D. Both my kids are in college... big part of why I'm not posting here much anymore. Oldest dd has been in Honors Program and is graduating in May with Poli-Sci Major. She's still undecided about after graduation plans... narrowed it down to grad school, federal law enforcement or law school. We hope to see youngest dd (ie, with learning disabilities) also graduate in May from CC. She plans to go to university in fall of 2011 as a junior to major in Exercise Science. Because youngest dd works closely with the CC Disability Center, I also work with her and them from the home front. CC has been the perfect fit for her in transitioning from homeschooling to college. Me? I'm good... doing more homemaking these days rather than homeschooling and dh and I have more 'date time' to be together. How about you? Both Teaching Co. and Sr. Wendy are excellent for viewing. *The Teaching Company DVD course taught by Professor Richard Brettell, Museum Masterpieces: The Metropolitan Museum of Art *Sister Wendy, The Story of Painting films All of the resources I listed above are a bit specific, each in their own way. That's why we used Strickland's The Annotated Mona Lisa as a general, condensed overview while we dipped into the other resources. Several years ago my oldest dd asked me to purchase Brettell's Museum Masterpieces. She was already in college and was taking an art course and she told me that Brettell's course description was very much like the course she was taking that semester. We love Brettell's lectures. His presentations are thorough, interesting and lively.... no falling asleep while viewing... and his DVDs and guidebook lend themselves very well to discussions and essay writing. Sr. Wendy??? Totally different 'flavor' than Brettell. They are both good but Sr. Wendy is a hoot to watch.

The teacher's edition provides answers to all the section and chapter review questions and also offers a number of other teaching aids.... well worth the money if you do not have time to spare.

In no particular order, these are some of our favorite Art History resources which are all easy to use: *The Teaching Company DVD course taught by Professor Richard Brettell, Museum Masterpieces: The Metropolitan Museum of Art *E.H. Gombrich, The Story of Art to use with Oak Meadow's The Study of Art Syllabus *Sister Wendy, The Story of Painting text and video course *Strickland, The Annotated Mona Lisa *Patrick Nuttgens, The Story of Architecture *J. Glancey, DK The Story of Architecture *Strickland, The Annotated Arch

We used them with humanities studies. Great books, btw!

Do you have any Shakespeare reference books? They might be useful for you. Two that I have are: Essential Shakespeare Handbook (a DK book) ISBN: 0-7894-9333-0 Sparknotes 101- Shakespeare ISBN: 1-4114-0027-5

I heart hospice. They were wonderful when my mom was dying.

Dh and I just saw the movie tonight while out on a date. We just purchased our first sailboat so we loved the movie... great water/sailing scenes... but we haven't yet read the book.

Fwiw-- Net Nanny is a top notch internet filtering program.

My kids enjoyed reading this- The Mystery of the Periodic Table By Benjamin D. Wiker

Sounds like you hit the jackpot! You just never know when someone has dropped off stacks of books they no longer need. I was recently one of those people. A few years ago we finished homeschooling our two kids in grades K-12 and I planned to sell all the books I no longer wanted to keep. The problem I had, though, was that I was too sick to deal with the work of selling so I left everything as it was. Three years and two major surgeries later I finally got to it only I still had no time or ambition to sell so I did the next best thing. I de-cluttered all 12 of my bookcases, bagged up what I didn't need in large trash bags, loaded the car and dropped it all off at Salvation Army. I'm not exaggerating- The bags filled the back seat of my car from floor to ceiling and my trunk was packed as well. I'd like to think that somebody made a killing at my Salvation Army store with all the books I donated. Happy for your findings! You should hit your Goodwill store once a month. You'll probably find treasures each time you go.

I wanted to come back here and explain something but thought it would be best to wait until everyone was through 'telling me off'. I think that what I said in my OP was not exactly what I meant to say and that’s totally my fault… not making excuses. What I was thinking when I read the thread was that most of our (ie, my dh and I) alone time happens in our bedroom every night. We live in a small house and at any given time one or both of our kids are home. So basically when we’re home, our bedroom is the only place that we know we have privacy and we have that privacy every night for some 6-8 hours. I was only thinking that it would be sad to me if we didn’t have that chunk of alone time each night. I see that you guys work in your alone time in other ways that work for you and your spouse. Again, my apologies.

Thank you- Joanne, mame23 and Ohbe for your gracious posts. Again, my apologies to everyone I offended.

When I say “intimacy†I’m talking about emotional and sexual intimacy and I realize that sleeping in the same bed does not automatically make for healthy intimacy. Why was this thread sad for me to read? I guess it's because at my age I'm realizing that our time on this earth is so brief. We can get so caught up in parenting, homeschooling and other things in life where being emotionally and sexually close to our husband can easily become a nonessential. My husband is one who can easily hit the pillow and be out like a light but still, he would be devastated if I wanted to sleep in separate beds, let alone separate rooms. We both treasure our alone time in bed while the kids are in their rooms. Our bedroom time at night is our main alone time each day. We even make a point to go to bed at a decent hour, usually between 8:30-10pm, so we can have that alone time before sleeping. I love my kids as much as the next guy but one day my kids will move out and it will just be my husband and me in the house. This is my time to nurture that relationship. And yes, my husband snores some and I rarely sleep entirely through the nights. One of our kids is a type 1 diabetic (ie, insulin-dependent) and she has bipolar I disorder, both of which often keep her emotions on a roller-coaster ride even through the nights. She was diagnosed with diabetes 13 years ago so I haven't slept sound in 13 years. In the culture I grew up in it would have been unheard of for a husband and wife to sleep in opposite ends of the house; it's foreign to me. But for those of you who don’t care about sleeping in the same room and your husband doesn’t care and you're able to enjoy a healthy dose of intimacy… then you have no problem. You’re happy, husband’s happy so everybody is happy. Tap, that’s great that you and your dh can enjoy physical intimacy at other times of the day but for many of us, our dh’s are only home for nights and weekends and our kids are here too. If we didn’t sleep in the same room we would rarely get to be alone. Obviously I have offended you although it was unintentional. My apologies to you and to others who I have offended.

This has been one of the saddest threads I have ever read. To think that snoring and the like would keep a married couple from enjoying daily intimacy... I just don't get it. My dh can snore and wake me up but then I am able to go right back to sleep. Sharing the same bed and being intimately close to each other is way more important to me than sleeping without interruptions from snoring and such. One day, we or our spouse will no longer be here. If my dh goes first, when that day comes I want to be able to say that we spent every available minute intimately enjoying each others company. I would never want to go on living with regrets thinking all the "I wish I had..." thoughts. We are not allowed the privilege of going back and redoing what we neglected to do in the first place. My love and affections for my dh will always trump my need for uninterrupted sleep. I don't mean to offend anyone with this but I had to say what was on my mind. I do hope that some of you will seriously reconsider your desire to sleep apart from your husband.

:iagree: My dh was diagnosed with colon cancer earlier this year. I was devastated to think that he might not be with me much longer. We are so blessed in that the cancer was discovered in an early stage and that it was all taken out with surgery. And yes, my dh occasionally snores some but I'd much rather hear him snore than not hear him at all. You are right in that we are not promised our tomorrows. Marriage is about much more than getting my sleep. It is about being privileged to share intimate moments with the man I love.

/

katemary, Your post was so sweet. ITA with everything you said.

I give him a beer and some space to unwind from his day. Later, I make a point to get us in bed early so I can help him unwind in the way that only a wife can do. Simple solution!;)

May I post just to say--- I love Zappos and I love my new, green Newport Keens. I did buy them a half size larger as many customers recommended and the Zappos gal on the phone who took my order recommended the same.

Well I just bought a green pair and I ordered in a half size larger than my usual size. That's what many of the reviewers said they did and the girl on the phone suggested the same thing. I hope the green looks OK with all my clothes. Thank you ladies. And did I say how much I heart Zappos? My shoes will be here day after tomorrow, on Friday.